Plan the day ... and start early

I talked to a guy recently who was meticulous in the way he planned his day.  It actually started each evening when he laid out all the things he needed to take to work the next morning - so that he wouldn't forget anything AND he would take less time.  This went on through the next day until he started again in the evening.

You might think this a bit 'nerdy' but it reminds us that planning ahead does save time and does result in fewer errors. 

Think through your work routines and see what simple things you can do (checklists, reminders, etc) to make sure you don't forget anything .. and to make sure you are efficient.

What do phones do?

Modern 'smartphones' do calls, texts, email, social media, photos, videos, music ... and so much more.

But to they do business ... or are they distractors.

Make sure you know what you need (not want) from a phone before you make the decision about which one to get.  As a general rule, if its been on the market for less than 6 months, its too new and possible buggy.  Forget it.

The End of Office

Microsoft Office continues to get bigger and ....   Well, I'm not sure its getting better.  We know most people only use a handful of the features, yet they are still using a very, expensive piece of software.

If Office were a 'normal' product, we would be suggesting its at the end of its life cycle, bloated by the need to keep revenues turning .... and bloated beyond most people's comprehension and convenience.

So are you using Open Office or Google Docs or Zoho?  Probably not ... like everyone else you are paying lots of money for things you don't need.

Who's the mug?

Superbowl

When talking about (American) football, commentators often talk about the productivity of a team, a player or a position.  They rarely mean productivity ... they mean performance.  It would be useful if they DID talk about productivity - the value of a player - the output relative to the costs.

And you should look at aspects of your business in the same way.  Not, what do I get from it?  But what do I get relative to what it costs me?  This changes the way you look at production processes, sales teams, outsourced services, maintenance .... everything!